In the past, most of the jewel holding devices held or fixed their jewel by clamping a plurality of fixing claws on each jewel.
On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3, a jewel holding device 101, disclosed in the Patent Publication No. 5-37041, comprises a ring part 102 and a U-shaped metallic base 103 laterally fixed onto the ring part 102. The U-shaped metallic base 103 includes an upper leg part 104 and a lower leg part 105 longer than the upper leg part 104 and having a hole 107 with an indentation 106. A facet-cut jewel 114 is held by the jewel holding device 101 at three points: the upper leg part 104, the indentation 106 of the lower leg part 105, and a lateral part 108.
Further, as shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, a jewel attachment structure, disclosed in the Utility Model Publication No. 6-8730, comprises a claw section 111 forming a concave surface 110 attached near a girdle 116 of a facet-cut jewel 114.
However, concerning the jewel holding devices with a plurality of fixing claws for clamping, much of the cut surfaces of a jewel is hidden by the plurality of fixing claws and these surfaces are consequently partially obstructed from view. The jewel holding device of FIG. 3 is formed by two separate parts, the U-shaped metallic base 103 and the ring part 102, and therefore, problems of manufacturing with two separate parts in relation to such things as strength of attachment between the two parts, positioning, and surface finishing become troublesome issues.
Further, the claws of the jewel attachment structure of FIGS. 4A and 4B do not reach to the table 117, and hence, to secure the jewel tightly the claws have to be widened significantly and cannot be made narrow.
The objects of the present invention are to provide an aesthetically pleasing jewel holding device that exposes adequately the cut surfaces of the jewel, that can be manufactured easily, and that securely holds the jewel.